The Atlantic

By Protecting the Presidency, Mueller Has Hurt the Country

The special counsel should have offered an opinion on whether Trump criminally obstructed justice.
Source: J. Scott Applewhite / AP / Katie Martin / The Atlantic

There is much in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report to concern the American public. It recounts a tale of Russian electoral interference that everyone (save President Donald Trump) now recognizes as extensive. And it details a course of obstructive conduct by the president that borders on criminality.

Yet Mueller reached no conclusion about the president’s behavior, and that is an even greater concern. For in elevating the institution of the president above the rule of law, Mueller has done a disservice to the nation.

With almost the very first words of Volume II of his report—the

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